First of all, congrats to the Ravens. Flacco seems to be coming on his own and it appears that I was too hasty about my opinion on Jim Caldwell. There were rumors that Peyton used to contradict most of his play calling. He appears to be not such a bad Offensive Coordinator after all.

So, now we have the teams of Jim and John Harbaugh in the Superbowl. The last time these 2 teams met, the Ravens beat the Niners. Pretty convincingly, I might add. So now, it would be interesting to hear everyone's opinion on who's going to win and why.

I'll start by saying that although my heart wants the Ravens to win, I'm afraid their defense does not have an answer to the Niner's very unusual QB, Kaepernick. I've actually never seen a QB like that guy. He can throw AND run! Equally well. It's not easy to come back from being 17 points behind in a championship game, but that kid did it. He did it with passing, running, and making some good decisions on the field. Also, the Niners defense is pretty good. It may not be as good as the Ravens, but it's good enough to win games.

Anyway, that's my opinion.

how the heck is this smack? sounds more like you got a thing for flacco and kaepernick

See I knew you weren't as stupid as people here think. Now if the play calling is bad, that hurts Dalton correct? If they don't call plays to work to his strengths, that also hurts him correct?

Oh... PLEASE! You going to hang every performance mistake of Dalton's on play calling? How about that overthrown ball to AJ Green in the endzone that would have won the game for the Bengals in the playoffs? Was that bad playcalling?

Oh... PLEASE! You going to hang every performance mistake of Dalton's on play calling? How about that overthrown ball to AJ Green in the endzone that would have won the game for the Bengals in the playoffs? Was that bad playcalling?

Oh... PLEASE! You going to hang every performance mistake of Dalton's on play calling? How about that overthrown ball to AJ Green in the endzone that would have won the game for the Bengals in the playoffs? Was that bad playcalling?

Or... A BAD THROW by a QB who has trouble with the deep ball?

Betcha' Kaepernick would have made that throw.

Where did I say that? Did you watch the playoff game? Horrible playcalling throughout. Dalton isn't great at the deep ball, so the solution is to keep trying it? What was the last play 4th and 8? So obviously he should call a play where the primary read is a 5 yard dumpoff.

Where did I say that? Did you watch the playoff game? Horrible playcalling throughout. Dalton isn't great at the deep ball, so the solution is to keep trying it? What was the last play 4th and 8? So obviously he should call a play where the primary read is a 5 yard dumpoff.

Dude... I watched the game - just like everyone else in the country! From my point of view, the play calling wasn't as horrible as you'd like me to believe. However, the PLAYERS sure didn't make the plays.

I saw the Bengals tight end drop, not one but several passes he should have caught! One of them could have led to a favorable field position for either a TD or a field goal. Instead, the Bengals had to punt.

Dalton acted like this was his first game in the NFL. Very shaky and couldn't connect with anybody.

The only really bad play calling was to NOT THROW to AJ Green in the 1st half. WTF was that about? Did Marvin Lewis have a brain fart or what? What genius thought that not using the Bengals best player in the 1st half was a good idea?

By the way... if Jay Gruden was such a bad coach, why did he get so many Head Coaching interviews? He got more interviews than Zimmer. Bad play-calling coaches don't get Head Coaching interviews, dude.

Dude... I watched the game - just like everyone else in the country! From my point of view, the play calling wasn't as horrible as you'd like me to believe. However, the PLAYERS sure didn't make the plays.

I saw the Bengals tight end drop, not one but several passes he should have caught! One of them could have led to a favorable field position for either a TD or a field goal. Instead, the Bengals had to punt.

Dalton acted like this was his first game in the NFL. Very shaky and couldn't connect with anybody.

The only really bad play calling was to NOT THROW to AJ Green in the 1st half. WTF was that about? Did Marvin Lewis have a brain fart or what? What genius thought that not using the Bengals best player in the 1st half was a good idea?

By the way... if Jay Gruden was such a bad coach, why did he get so many Head Coaching interviews? He got more interviews than Zimmer. Bad play-calling coaches don't get Head Coaching interviews, dude.

Green-Ellis was averaging nearly 6 yards per carry, so naturally we should stop running. He go so many interviews because, despite him being a questionable playcaller, he's done a decent job developing Dalton and helping him transition to the NFL(He played in the spread in college)

Green-Ellis was averaging nearly 6 yards per carry, so naturally we should stop running. He go so many interviews because, despite him being a questionable playcaller, he's done a decent job developing Dalton and helping him transition to the NFL(He played in the spread in college)

Was that Gruden's decision or... Marvin? Or... does the HEAD COACH not pay attention to the game? Something tells me it was Marvin's decision. That's more typical of a Marvin move than a Gruden.

Not even close. Marvin Lewis is still in the mindset that you play tough defense and run the ball. Not running was all Gruden.

Really?

So... this "tough defense" is all Marvin and not Zimmer? You know, prior to Zimmer coming on board, I seem to recall that the Bengals "tough defense" was always in the lower 20's of the NFL.

Isn't Gruden a proponent of the West Coast Offense? That's primarily short passes with lots of runs in between. I hardly saw any of that in the game against the Texans. What I did see was predictable play calling. A signature hallmark of Marvin Lewis. You know, the master of time-management on the field and challenge flags.

So... this "tough defense" is all Marvin and not Zimmer? You know, prior to Zimmer coming on board, I seem to recall that the Bengals "tough defense" was always in the lower 20's of the NFL.

Isn't Gruden a proponent of the West Coast Offense? That's primarily short passes with lots of runs in between. I hardly saw any of that in the game against the Texans. What I did see was predictable play calling. A signature hallmark of Marvin Lewis. You know, the master of time-management on the field and challenge flags.

Didn't say that, I said Marvin is still in the mindset that you need a good defense and running game(2001 Ravens when he was the DC). Gruden claims to be a WCO, but he doesn't do anything of the sort. He isn't handcuffed, he just isn't a good coordinator in my opinion.

Didn't say that, I said Marvin is still in the mindset that you need a good defense and running game(2001 Ravens when he was the DC).

I don't know if you noticed, but the Bengals aren't the Ravens.

Marvin can have all the mindsets that he wants. He's still a bad coach and the Bengals aren't the Ravens.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the big difference between the Steelers and Ravens and Bengals are that the Steelers and Ravens step up during big games and make the necessary big plays to win games.

The Bengals choke a lot. Whenever it's a big game, it's pretty predictable where the Bengals are going to fail. That's because Marvin is a terrible coach. He seems to have an eye for talent, but his on field coaching is terrible.

But... you know... you can believe what you want. You can believe that Gruden is the only reason Dalton and the Bengals have choked during the playoffs. The rest of the NFL could only shake their heads and wonder HOW Marvin still has a job!

Marvin can have all the mindsets that he wants. He's still a bad coach and the Bengals aren't the Ravens.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the big difference between the Steelers and Ravens and Bengals are that the Steelers and Ravens step up during big games and make the necessary big plays to win games.

The Bengals choke a lot. Whenever it's a big game, it's pretty predictable where the Bengals are going to fail. That's because Marvin is a terrible coach. He seems to have an eye for talent, but his on field coaching is terrible.

But... you know... you can believe what you want. You can believe that Gruden is the only reason Dalton and the Bengals have choked during the playoffs. The rest of the NFL could only shake their heads and wonder HOW Marvin still has a job!

When have I EVER said Marvin was in anyway shape or form a good coach? Never. I don't like the guy in fact I kind of hate him. I never said Gruden was the only problem with the Bengals. I just said he was one of the problems.

If you watched the Falcons-49ers game, that's what the Falcons thought too after they established a 17-0 lead. Up to that point, they WERE stopping the run.

Then... it all changed. Somehow, the Niners started running the ball.

That freed up Kaepernick.

The Ravens may be able to slow the kid down, but I don't think they'll be able to stop him. Now, the big question is whether the Niners defense can stop Joe Flacco. They managed to stop Matty Ice. Is Joe Flacco better than Matty Ice? Maybe. But he'd better be if he wants a chance to beat the Niners defense. It all depends on whether the Ravens OL can stop the Niners Pass Rush.

Do you truly believe the Falcons run or pass defense can hold a candle to the Ravens defense?

Ravens win this game as Ravens shut down 49ers running game making them one dimensional. Ravens offense exploits 49ers defense because Smith is playing at about 80% at best.

Ravens 30 - 49ers 20 as SF scores late TD to make it look closer than it was.

__________________Mix it up and add a top tier FA in 2015 to get us over the hump!!!!!!!